07 Oct 2010 14:42:32 GMT
Source: Reuters
DHAKA, Oct 7 (Reuters) - At least 200 Bangladeshi fishermen are missing after 15 fishing boats capsized in the Bay of Bengal during a storm, boat operators said on Thursday.
A wall of water whipped up by strong winds also flooded coastal areas, forcing about 150,000 people to flee their homes, officials said.
A storm surge over the past two days has sent waves five feet (1.5 metres) high crashing into several towns and villages along the coast of this low-lying nation, but so far there have been no reports of definite casualties.
The surge breached embankments, washed away homes, flooded roads and knocked down electricity pylons and trees, cutting off several villages and leaving thousands homeless.
Weather officials said the storm surge, caused by a tropical cyclone formed in the Bay of Bengal, was likely to intensify and move north-northwest.
Storms originating at sea kill many Bangladeshis almost every year. Some 3,500 people were killed by Cyclone Sidr in November 2007 and hundreds more died when Cyclone Aila hit in 2009.
(Reporting by Nizam Ahmed; Editing by Nick Macfie)